


HoDT - Lonesome

by medaeus (medivhthecorrupted)



Series: The Holocron of Darth Tyranus [20]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medivhthecorrupted/pseuds/medaeus
Summary: Jedi Master Dooku decided he hated Altier. Stranded and alone, he tries to keep his sanity but the local wildlife has other plans.
Series: The Holocron of Darth Tyranus [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699117
Kudos: 7





	HoDT - Lonesome

**119**

**Lonesome**

Jedi Master Dooku decided he hated Altier.

It didn't matter that he was alone and stranded on the barren wasteland of a backwater world with the only company coming from a pack of rodents that trailed him and ate the last of his supply of rations and were waiting to eat him. What mattered was the fact that it was a barren wasteland of a backwater world in which he was alone and stranded on. He wasn't sure which was worse on the planet, being alone or being alone with a bunch of rodents that he had named.

There was Dexter whom he swore was related to that greasy diner’s cook his former Padawan liked to frequent. The rodent even had the mustache and beady little eyes. He was certain the little beast was plotting a thousand ways to cook him for his mates once he died of thirst or hunger, whichever came first.

Then there was Lorian who, at first, seemed to be the least amount afraid of him. At night the little rodent would enter his makeshift camp and sniff around his boots as he lay beside a tiny fire to sleep. He initially tried to take a page out of his apprentice's book and befriend the rodent by offering it a piece of his rations, an action he would later come to regret when the rest ate what was left that evening. The vermin took his offering and nearly his fingers before hissing and scurrying back to the others. It reminded him far too much of how Lorian had used his trust and compassion as an advantage in his own schooling back when they had been friends.

After that he had tried to ward off the animals with the Force to no avail. They simply just kept their distance and waited.

The largest rodent he had named after Malek, the ancient Sith Lord that had betrayed Revan some five thousand years ago. The creature was missing part of its lower jaw and had quite the nasty temperament ruling over the other rats. Before he had started using the Force to keep them at bay at night, he had proven to be quite the nuisance. Not in the sense of actually bothering him but that it would cause quite the ruckus with the other vermin and disrupting any attempt on his part to sleep.

Speaking of which, “Shut up or I'll shut you up!” he growled from his perch atop of sandstone boulders. Great. He has certainly lost it now that he's yelling at the animals to stop making so much noise. He wants to sleep but Malek insists on fighting with the others. He's certain it’s a plot by the Sithly rodent to catch him off guard from sleep deprivation.

He rubbed at his temples in irritation as the vile things continued to make a ruckus. The temptation to take his lightsaber and use up the last of its power to wipe out this pack of vermin was too great, and he barely kept himself from giving in. He just wanted one night of uninterrupted sleep. That was all he asked for. “Force save my sanity,” he mumbled just before one of the rodents squealed in pain. He prayed that it was Malek finally getting what he deserved.

Eventually they quieted down and allowed him a few hours before dawn rose over the horizon to threaten his sanity with heat exhaustion and dehydration. One of the rodents proved to be braver than most a couple hours into his morning routine of scavenging for food and water before the sun became too high and unbearable. This one he had decided to name after his former Padawan, Qui-Gon Jinn, since it did not seem to have the same nastier temperament as the others. From what he could see, the thing was younger than most and scrawnier.

“You’re the runt of the bunch, aren’t you?” he spoke to it and the thing twitched its thick whiskers at him in reply. He tried again to befriend one of the rodents by sharing the bit of fruit he had found with this younger one. The thing sniffed at the prickly, seed-bearing plant he had bitten in to and then swiped it away with its front paws faster than the Jedi Master could try to pull his fingers back. Qui-Gon skittered away to a nearby rock and sat atop it with his prize, happily and eagerly eating away at the inner flesh. “You’re welcome.”

When breakfast was over, he picked up what supplies he had left and continued on in the general direction he had been walking ever since he had crashed on this Force-forsaken world. He could hear Qui-Gon following behind him, darting behind rocks whenever he glanced back at his unexpected companion.

“Your namesake would find you very amusing,” he tells the rodent as they both traverse through the barren land that was slowly transforming into a rocky valley. “He would find my whole situation with you rats amusing.” He could almost hear his former student laughing and telling him how he had picked up his own pathetic lifeforms, for that was what the vermin were. Pathetic lifeforms.

Ahead of him, Dooku could see rock formations shaped by an ancient sea and hoped there he could find a better source of water and food; and perhaps shelter that could keep the pack of rodents away from him at night. Though with his downward spiraling luck, they would still find a way to come steal his supplies and nip at his toes until it drove him to madness.

By the end of the day he had finally made it to the painted valley and already found more of the dry bush that produced the prickly fruit. He had also seemed to have lost the pack of rodents save for Qui-Gon who stuck with him. The animal’s presence gave him someone to talk to as he walked, and he was long past caring about how sane that made him look. He was alone and the emptiness of this place was leaving him longing for the company of others.

He found a spot to make camp that was elevated above the valley floor and gave him some protection from the weather, what little of it there was, and had a new campfire started. Qui-Gon scratched and struggled his way up to where the Jedi Master was, squeaking in distress when he couldn’t find purchase on the loose surface. Dooku sighed and took pity on the thing and used the Force to lift it up, “Don’t make me regret this,” he tells the creature and watched as Qui-Gon found a place to hide and observe the human.

He shared the prickly fruit with the animal, coaxing it out of its place of sanctuary with the promise of food and a touch of the Force. “I’m not going to hurt you,” Dooku calmly promises and then leaves pieces of the fruit for Qui-Gon to take on his own accord. He ate his own fruit in peace, happy that he had finally lost the pack of rodents and looked forward to a peaceful night of sleep.

With his share of the fruit gone and the scraps left for his companion, the Jedi Master laid back to stare up at the star-filled night sky and wondered if any of the Jedi were looking for him. He wanted to believe that Master Yoda would expend all of the Order’s resources to find him, but he would only be living a hopeless fantasy that would come down crashing harder than the actual crash he had endured. “What are we but alone in the end, Qui-Gon?” he said to the rodent, hearing the animal cautiously scamper out of its little hole to nibble on the scraps he had given it.

“Alone,” he sighed heavily and closed his eyes. The Jedi would not come for him. He knew this with all his heart. He was just another knight lost to the cosmos and it did not matter that he had been the padawan of the Grandmaster of the Order. Yoda would grieve in his own way for the loss and Qui-Gon would refuse to believe that he was gone. Slowly he opened his eyes to stare up at the stars again, the thought of his student going out of his way to search for his master long after the Council had given up, gave him a little hope that he won’t be entirely abandoned to a slow and miserable death.

There was a squeak beside him and Dooku turned his dark eyes on the young rodent. It had a piece of the prickly fruit in its paws and nibbled while it watched him curiously. “What?” he asked of it and the thing squeaked again and he swore he had heard it tell him not to give up. He really was losing his mind if he thought the animal was speaking Basic back at him. “I don’t know about you, my little friend, but there is little hope for me. I will die here, and your brethren will finally have that meal Dexter has been waiting on to cook.”

Qui-Gon twitched his whiskers at him and what seemed like a very human huff and shrug of its shoulders, it scampered away to hide in its spot until dawn rose again. He found he hated the idea of a rat being disappointed him.


End file.
